·One·

"MistClan, to me!" The small, gray leader called. The few cats of MistClan, the remains of SkyClan, gathered around her in the small, cramped gorge.

"Heatherstar?" A big, burly black tom called out. "What is it?"

"We must leave the gorge!" Heatherstar yowled. "Prey is scarce, and our kits are dying. We must go to the legendary ThunderClan leader, Firestar, so he can help us survive."

"But Firestar is long dead!" The big tom meowed. Several cats nodded in agreement. "He must have died moons ago." The big tom continued. "And our life in the gorge here is not so bad. We will survive, as MistClan!"

"The rats have come back." Heatherstar hissed. "And they are here to destroy. They are angry after the last battle. They will stop at nothing to kill and destroy. We must leave and seek out the lake cats!"

A murmur came up from the gathered cats.

"We can fight the rats." An elder protected hotly. "We can win. We've done it before."

"Back then we had many cats!" Retorted Heatherstar. "Now we have few. Our warriors are hungry and weak. We cannot win this battle."

"Then we just leave?" An apprentice squeaked nervously.

"Yes, Rosepaw. We leave." Heatherstar meowed. "Those of you who wish to stay, stay! But I am leaving, along with those who follow. You who stay shall perish. It is a leader's job to care for her Clan, but how can I care for a Clan that does not wish to be cared for? No. You are on your own if you choose not to run from danger."

Heatherstar leapt from the rock, landing nimbly on her four paws, and padded towards her den on the top of the gorge. Uneasy muttering swept among her Clanmates like a wildfire after she had departed.

"She can't be serious!" The elder who had spoken earlier piped up. "She's bluffing!"

"But Heatherstar doesn't lie, and besides, the rats are coming back. They're more dangerous then ever." A queen meowed nervously, curving her body around her two kits as if to shield them from danger. "We might have a better chance of surviving with the forest cat's help."

"Mousedung!" The elder growled, twitching his nose irritably. "We were more then a match for them last time. We can beat them again."

"We cannot do such a thing, Tinyfoot!" The queen gasped.

"We can." Tinyfoot argued. "I was there last time, Sparkflower."

"As a kit!" Sparkflower flashed back, the fur on her neck bristling until she looked twice her size. "I have decided to leave with Heatherstar with our kits." She announced, the fur on her neck lying flat again as she calmed herself.

"To your own suffering." Tinyfoot grumbled.

"I will go as well, with my mate." The big tom murmured softly, giving Sparkflower an affectionate lick on the ear. "I would follow her to the sundrown place and back."

"Thank you, Gorsebracken." Sparkflower gave her mate a purr and licked his muzzle quickly.

Gorsebracken nodded but didn't reply, watching a lithe she-cat with the same eyes and pelt as him.

"Morningfrost?" He asked quietly, a hint of fear in his strong voice.

The pretty she-cat hesitated, then stepped forwards to stand beside her brother. "I will stay with Gorsebracken and Morningfrost." She announced. "Though I feel that this is wrong, I would never abandon my brother."

Gorsebracken purred and gave his sister a long lick.

Cats grumbled and stepped over to join trio. Four cats remained.

The red she-cat and the small gray tom stepped over quickly. The elder Tinyfoot hissed and lashed his tail.

"I has lived here all my life and I'm not leaving!" He wheezed, then hobbled into the cave that served as the elder's den.

The other cat, a scrawny brown she-cat elder, glanced around anxiously and followed. Two brown apprentice's darted forwards and helped her away.

Sparkflower sighed.

"That means four of our Clan are staying. Tinyfoot and Redrose are old, anyways, but we are losing two strong apprentices, and Whitepaw will be devastated." She meowed wryly. "How I wish Heatherstar were not making us leave the gorge!"

Gorsebracken twined his tail with hers.

"We will survive this, and live many moons to come, until we become elders and join our ancestors in death." He meowed, his low, rumbling voice carrying across the clearing.

Heatherstar bounded down from her den, her blue eyes sparkling with a fierce light, and yowled to her Clanmates, kits and warriors alike.

"We are MistClan, and we shall live!"

· · ·

"Mother, I don't want to go away." The small, white and black kit whined.

"We don't have a choice, Birdkit." Sparkflower meowed gently, grooming her kit's fur. "Do you want to stay with grumpy old Tinyfoot?"

Birdkit shook her head vigorously. "No! He'll make me get his fleas!" She protested. Then she started to tremble.

"Will we die?"

Sparkflower flattened her ears.

"No, we won't, Birdkit. We have your father to protect us, and all the Clan." The queen continued to wash her protesting kit.

"And I'll protect you!" A black kit meowed, pretending to claw an enemy.

"You'll do no such thing, Bramblekit!" Sparkflower scolded him. "Put away your claws before you hurt somebody!"

Herding the freshly cleaned kits together, she let them eat some freshkill. Gorsebracken watched them play, then padded over to his mate and meowed softly, "What if they do die, Sparkflower? Danger awaits us on this journey."

Sparkflower bristled and spat.

"Are you saying that I can't take care of my kits?" She hissed, narrowing her pretty green eyes.

"No, I'm saying that this journey is dangerous. Maybe you should stay here."

"Never!" Sparkflower growled, then padded away to gather her kits.

The medicine cat, Windstorm, gathered up traveling herbs for his Clanmates. Sparkflower's kits growled and complained about the taste, but the rest of the Clan gulped the leaves down willingly.

Heatherstar watched the goings-on silently, taking her traveling herbs without a single word of complaint. Or any other words.

Sparkflower grunted with distaste. The herbs tasted as bad as mouse bile smelled. She chewed the tangy and bitter mix of flavors, resisting the urge to scoop it out of her mouth with a paw. Her kits finished and started to wrestle energetically.

After she had swallowed the last of the herbs, Heatherstar leaped down from the rock she had perched on.

"We shall leave now." Their leader announced, eyeing the cats who were staying speculatively. "Tinyfoot, Redrose, Mintpaw, Weatherpaw...?"

The four cats shook their heads and padded into the elder's den.

Heatherstar sighed.

"We shall miss you all!" She called. "MistClan, depart!"

The journey had begun.